Freezing temperatures were recorded in eastern Canada, and in particular Quebec, where record electricity consumption was recorded on Tuesday.
In Montreal, the mercury dropped to -24.9 degrees Tuesday morning, with streets and parks usually busy with athletes in all weather.
Extreme temperature alerts have been issued by Environment Canada for several regions of eastern Canada – Quebec, Ontario, New Brunswick and Newfoundland and Labrador.
“It’s not exceptional, but it’s not very common to be that cold,” explained AFP Simon Legault, a meteorologist for Environment Canada, according to which Quebecers “are not really used to the cold anymore.”
In Montreal’s Old Port district, a stone’s throw from the city centre, usually a tourist district, but affected by new health measures due to COVID-19, some visitors faced a cold.
75-year-old Pierre LaPalme, neatly draped under his hood and hat, recalls that this type of cold was common during his youth, even “cold more than this”.
“I think it’s global warming, now we can see very clearly that winters are less cold than in the 60s or 70s,” he told AFP.
At around 8:00 a.m. on Tuesday, Quebecers consumed 39,900 MW, an absolute record. The precedent of 22 January 2014, which recorded a consumption of 39,031 MW.
“This is the moment in the history of Hydro-Québec when consumption was at its highest,” said Cédique Bouchard, a spokesman for the Quebec state-owned company.
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